BrunswickSq

INV-LHR-OTP-LHR-JFK-PHX-HNL-LAX-MIA-PTY sounds like fun ...

irmster

So I never made it to AMS anyway so the £19 I paid to move from my middle seat on the return was wasted.

Boarded on time - told there would be an hour delay due to fog, then that went to 3 hours so with a load of others got off (was going to miss my meeting so no point in sitting on the tarmac for hours).

Fair play to the first officer who arranged for everyone who wanted to deplane to do so (we were on a remote stand).

Lesson learned anyway - if I am flying BA, get the company to avoid booking an HBO fare.

HIDDY

''Peace of mind is a mental state of calmness or tranquility, a freedom from worry and anxiety''.

adrianlondon

I assume you can ask for it to be refunded.

irmster

don't think so as I chose to get off - the plane did leave eventually.

BertieBadger

I was wondering about this, and would BA refund?

If BA cancel a flight, they refund your seating fees. If the passenger cancels the flight, no refund is due.

On the assumption that the flight did eventually operate (if not, obv BA must refund) then what does the decision to offload oneself count as. BA would likely argue it is the passenger choosing to cancel, but they are only doing so as the delay has made their trip in vain.

I'd encourage the OP to try a claim anyway, I don't hold out a lot of hope tbh (it seems to be a day they were destined to be the statue and not the pigeon ) but it would useful to get a response from BA anyway to see what their policy is here - ok, we can probably make a decent guess what it will be, but it's a quick form to fill in.

corporate-wage-slave

Depends a bit of the specific circumstances here. It's only after a 5 hour delay that there is contractural right to a refund, however BA are known to refund if the delay is less than that on shorter trips. If the flight was cancelled then there would be refund of ticket and seat fee.

alex67500

Before you ask, this is not a dig at all LCCs, I would think that EasyJet provide an equivalent service to ET. When they make more sense on price or schedule (especially for BOD for example). Ryanair is a whole other ball game. The constant harassment of J2O ads, scratch cards, etc. I haven't traveled with FR for about 8 years, so maybe things have changed, but I'm not in a hurry to try again.

T8191

On this occasion I will agree, as I’m waiting for QR to credit a sector (the first one of 2, the 2nd already credited!) which will renew Gold! Need to wait 7 days before claiming

It’s tough keeping at the top!

MiraculousM

Yeah its changed a lot- there arent as many announcements or ads- its not the same as before. I legitimately do not see any difference between ET and Ryanair now.

corporate-wage-slave

I agree they are a perfectly sensible carrier, and I do plenty of flying on them too. But the big differences I notice are - the seating policy (no Theoretical Seating there, they do cheerfully split up groups of travellers even if they don't have to do so); no wifi or power; no free water; no seat storage such as a back seat pocket whatsoever (particularly annoying for me); for flights in the afternoon onwards the lack of cleaning at turnarounds becomes really obvious; the use of pre-queuing before an aircraft has even landed, sometimes outside in the rain. BA can hold people on the jetbridge before boarding at some locations but on nothing like FR's scale. Then there are just a few differences between Stansted and Heathrow....Then FR only allow 1 bag as standard rather than 2, and their frequent flyer programme has some gaps compared to BA. This is all before status kicks in and gives a raft of further benefits to BA passengers.

So while I take this in my stride, and I like some of their incredible fares to incredible places, to say there aren't any differences between ET and Ryanair seems a stretch, in my view.

dddc

I started with a new firm recently and they booked flights to Europe to travel just few days after I started. Price was around £450 for a 90 min flight three weeks in advance. First leg was HBO, second leg wasn't. For the outbound I was able to pay for a seat. The exit row was only £13 while the others "up front" where £19. I took the exit row as I didn't want to be stuck in a middle seat (or next to my new colleagues, but that's another story!). I have blue status. Does that count for being able to select seats to buy?

The return I was only given the choice of a few seats at OLCI. Before that to pre pay for a seat it was very limited to ones down the back and no exit row seats.

While I disagree with it (even as a BA shareholder!!) I think fees for seat selection are here to stay. Soon, we'll be thinking of free seat selections in the same way as we used to think of free hot meals in Y Euroflights, or any free meal for that matter!!

HIDDY

I've flown with Ryanair on a couple of returns from PIK to Dublin and Brussels years ago. Must admit I thought they were great for the price we paid. Do the general public really care what the inflight service is like on short haul flights nowadays especially those with lounge access? I take the mini bus to Buenos Aires which takes nearly three hours...no food/drink supplied and only one toilet stop.

MiraculousM

For someone that doesnt have status, i will give you healthrow terminal 5 vs stansted but thats as far as it goes. With priority (which even added on makes the flight 1/3 of what you are paying with BA) you have 2 bags AND a duty free bag which BA no longer allows on short haul. I have had to move on more BA flights than I have Ryanair flights - one time BA had seperated a heavily pregnant woman from her husband. I actually think that the ryanair cabin crew are more pleasant- while not the most professional, they want to help. When you are in economy, the CC seem to resent us, both in long haul and short haul (further shown by a friend who is cabin crew who posted her disdain about having to move over to Economy from "premium cabins",.

I should have said "if you are status-less, i cant see any difference between ryanair and BA".

Mike P

Whilst I agree that comparing Ryanair with BA makes more sense if you compare it without BA status factored in, I have to take issue with your assertion that with priority boarding included, FR is 1/3 of the price that one would pay with BA. I have done a number of trips with a colleague who for various reasons but largely geographical considerations, prefers to fly from Stansted rather than LHR. He has therefore travelled with FR whilst I've travelled with BA from LHR. His ticket on Ryanair has, on every occasion, exceeded the cost of a BA economy plus ticket on the same day and route by the time he has added a cabin bag and priority boarding. On a recent trip to OSL his ticket was double the cost of BA economy plus.

Don't forget that BA economy plus allows same day change FOC so is actually more comparable with a Ryanair flexible ticket which appears to be a very expensive option indeed.

Of course for anyone with status, the equation changes substantially, lounges, priority boarding, increased number of Avios etc etc.

I'm no Ryanair fan personally but to make a blanket assertion that they are always better value than BA is, in my direct experience, simply wrong.